Grant Projects

Costa Rica

Nicolás Chacón Vargas Elementary School
The Nicolás Chacón Vargas Elementary School project was successfully accomplished. With funds provided by Cup for Education, a new roof and bathroom were added onto the current structure, providing a safer and cleaner environment for the children.
Read their words of thanks...

Escuela La Hilda
A computer lab on a coffee farm in Costa Rica where Cup for Education has donated several computers, a printer and a computer desk.

Dominican Republic

Little Bunnies Preschool Update
The Little Bunnies Preschool in the Los Cacaos Region of the Dominican Republic is nearing completion. The school construction, funded by Cup For Education, has made significant progress in recent months. The completed sections include the overall structure, two classrooms, a girl's restroom and a boy's restroom, a small office for the teachers, a small kitchen, and an adult restroom. This project was requested by the community organizers after a hurricane destroyed the original school. Now at 70% complete, they still lack a floor, accessories for one bathroom, paint, and a small playground. This has not stopped the children from coming to school every day to learn. The school is already in session and the children couldn't be happier.

Guatemala

Kukuy Education project in partnership with Fundacion Ixil (fundacionixil.org)
The Kukuy program, for which Cup and Fundacion Ixil have partnered, supports girls to continue their education through high school, and to prepare them to attend university with the aid of scholarships from other available programs. Kukuy is a Mayan Ixil word meaning "firefly". The hope is that the girls who we are educating will become the fireflies, who light the way forward for their families and their communities. The goal of this program is to break the cycle of exclusion and marginalization of women that limits opportunities for education and professional growth for the participants. Read more...

Traveling Library in Chacaya 2013
The Traveling Library was created to bring story hours and book kits to rural schools in Santiago Atitlan. La Puerta Abierta is a small children's library and learning center in rural Guatemala that strives to share creative learning and healthy reading habits with the youth of our community. We understand that children in rural areas cannot afford transportation costs to visit our center, hence we travel to 8 distant schools bringing a fun day of books, reading, creativity and critical thinking to their students. Depending on the solicitations of teachers at participating schools, we either work with young elementary aged students (preschool-third grade) or older students (fourth-sixth grade). Our teachers present a story hour, share a creative learning activity with students, and leave a book kit of 15 books in each class-room for student use throughout the week. Classroom teachers also benefit from learning new dynamic teaching techniques and from observing how to integrate reading into their daily curriculum.

We have received enthusiastic feed back from both teachers and students in Chacaya about our program. When our teachers visit Chacaya, the students shout "Here comes the story teacher," with big smiles.

Cup for Education is proud to be able to fund such a worthy educational project.

Update, November 2014: With support from organizations like Cup for Education, the Puerta Abierta Learning Center was able to bring their innovative program to 8 schools, 5 different grades, 25 classrooms, 40 teachers, and 400 students!

Pueblo a Pueblo and Cup for Education Foundation Improving Children's Literacy
Strengthening the school community and its capacity to take full management of the school library are just two of the accomplishments that the partnership of Pueblo a Pueblo and Cup for Education Foundation, has achieved since beginning of 2012, in support of the Chukmuk Elementary School in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.

Project activities included leading school library activities, implementing a comprehensive teacher training programme, holding a two-week literacy summer camp for the children, the launch of Mini Class Libraries, growing the school library book collection, and training a local community member as the school librarian.

Some of the significant achievements and results that this partnership has supported are, the installation of 17 Mini Class Libraries, a total of 6,380 books and education materials that are now catalogued as part of the school library collection, the implementation of the school library support group that helps sustain the management of the school library. On average, 76 children per month borrow books to take home and 293 students per month visit the library voluntarily.

Pueblo a Pueblo's Pathways to Literacy Project, with the generous contribution from Cup for Education Foundation, has accomplished its goal of improving literacy skills of primary school children in the Chukmuk Elementary School.

By the end of 2014, the alliance between the two organisations and the Chukmuk School will conclude its third and final year of support. However, the partnership between Pueblo a Pueblo and Cup for Education Foundation will bring the Pathways to Literacy project to a new elementary school in the lake Atitlán area. "Thanks to our continuing partnership with Cup for Education Foundation, we have been successful in our efforts to make books a part of children's daily life", states Montse Deu, Pueblo a Pueblo's program director.

Scholarship Student Update: Maria Mariela Estefany Tzoy
Cup for Education has been funding a scholarship for Maria Mariela Estefany Tzoy to attend the Joint College San Gaspar in Chajul, El Quiche. Maria is a third year student studying General Basic Culture. View the letter and report we received from the director of the college.

Library Support in Pasac, Guatemala update for June 2012One great sign of a healthy community is the sight of children reading. In the library of Pasac in Guatemala, it was not always this way. Less than 5 years ago, there was no library, no research materials, no reading programs and students there were not passing the exams to continue onto to higher education. What this community needed was a library. Today, this community boasts a library that serves the community, young and old. The Summer Reading Adventure programs now have over 85 children enrolled last December. Access to research and resource materials for youth and adults in the community has increased the learning levels so that the students are passing secondary level exams for the first time in many years. This initiative to build the library was conceptualized by the women’s group of Café Femenino in the community. Their efforts have been realized with the continued support of the Café Femenino Foundation and Cup for Education.

Summer Reading Adventure Program
Kindergarten age level through sixth grade.
85 children participated last December 2011.

Children of Pasac enjoying the Summer Reading Adventures Program

The Traveling Basket Program

The rural teachers are implementing this program as outreach from the library
The Story Hour Program

This program was created to prepare all students in the school to improve their habit of reading and to improve reading comprehension.

With the support of the library, we have seen changes in the levels of learning in the community.

Achievements and Successes

The programs provided by the library, has improved the standards of literacy for the children.

The Librarian received 6 trainings last year provided by Child Aid. They have been trained in and have implemented the Dewey Decimal System.

100 children have come through the Adventures in Reading Program to date.

The school teachers of Pasac attended 6 workshops last year provided by Child Aid to increase reading instruction skills.

El Paraiso Guatemala Art Workshop Project 2010
The idea behind this art workshop revolved around providing creative and imaginary-thinking activities to children in the area. Its essential foundation was to lead kids and teenager towards a deeper reflection on their social environment and to develop a better use of their imaginative resources in order to shape them and materialize them in a fun way. Continue to read about the Art Workshop sponsored by Cup for Education and view some of the artwork created by the children in this presentation.

El Paraiso Guatemala Project update for 2009
The amount of students almost doubled this year. It went from 22 to 38. We had two outstanding cases this year: the student who rides his horse to school every day. And the lady who is a mother. She has 3 kids, and still makes time to go to learn how to use a computer. The El Paraiso Project is a success because of the wonderful support of our donors. We hope to expand this project with a library, and vacation program. The goal is to create a full service environment where learning takes place all year round.

El Paraiso Guatemala
Located 8 miles up the mountain from the main road to Mexico, very close to the border, El Paraíso Development Center provides locals with a clinic, pharmacy, and a computer laboratory. Patients pay a symbolic fee for the doctor’s appointment in this clinic, and medicines are sold at almost their cost price.

Beans for Books
In conjunction with an existing project, Cup for Education donated funds to purchase library and text books for devastated communities of Hurricane Stan in Guatemala. Please read the story of how your money can help bring much needed materials to the children of coffee growers in Central America, and make a difference in their futures.

Honduras

News from Honduras
"More good news is that once again we are indebted to Cup for Education for sponsoring one of our teachers for 2013. This will be their third year of support, but this year they also threw in a motorcycle! We have been plagued by breakdowns because our 4 teachers must rely on 2 motorcycles, both old, and one of them with one wheel in the grave. Breakdowns mean trying to hitch a ride on isolated back-country roads, and arriving late to a group of students who have left before dawn to arrive on time to their class. So we are ecstatic about a brand new motorcycle."

El Maestro En Casa in
Intubucá, Honduras
Extreme poverty and geographic isolation have historically collaborated to deny the rural indigenous population of the province of Intibucá, Honduras, their fundamental right to education. El Maestro en Casa works to restore this right by providing primary and secondary education to over 450 students scattered throughout isolated mountain villages. Cup for Education has supported these efforts by sponsoring one of the four educators, who, traveling by motorcycle, teaches classes in remote village student centers as well as the Study Center in La Esperanza.

Medico Projects 2007
Cup for Education was proud to sponsor the cost of shipping, along with additional supplies, crates of educational materials, and school supplies to the MEDICO organization on their recent field trip to Honduras. M.E.D.I.C.O. is an independent nonprofit foundation that sends volunteer medical teams into developing countries to provide free services for people with little or no access to basic medical care. In addition when available, educational needs of these communities are addressed. Click Here to read the news from Naranjito, Banaderos, Honduras.

Kenya

Thengeini Primary School Pit Latrine Project (2011)
The Pit Latrine project recently completed in Kenya with grant funds provided in 2010 by Cup for Education. These funds enabled the Gikanda Cooperative along with Coffee Management Services to build safer, and more sanitary toilets for hundreds of children who attend the Thengeini Primary School.

St. Gabriel Kahata Primary School (2011-2012)
The project has seen the school grow tremendously with the school population having grown by up 25% from 226 to 282 pupils due the fact that an extra class room was constructed. This has also seen an improvement in hygiene since water has been provided close to the toilets. The students’ morale has been boosted by the fact that the environment they are studying in is secure and clean as exemplified by their cleaning of the class rooms as well as the chain link fence put in place.

The teachers are equally motivated by the construction of the new staff room whereby they are separated from the head teacher and her deputy thus reducing the interference of parents and other visitors as they come to see the head teacher. The new staff room is spacious and has enough air circulation as opposed to the congested previous one.

Nicaragua

La Bastille Technical High School in Jinotega, Nicaragua
More than 30 employees of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have enrolled in the employee payroll donation program to contribute to Cup for Education from each paycheck. GMCR makes a corporate match of these donations. The employees have elected to sponsor the education of Rosa Gutierrez, a 23 year old young woman who is in her first year at the Technical High School, La Bastille in Jinotega, Nicaragua. Her dream is to graduate as an agronomy engineer with a specialization in the coffee business to help her family. Our goal is to make that happen. Read more about the La Bastille Estate Education Project, and also see a letter from Rosa Gutierrez and her quarterly progress report.

Karen Gordon, President of Cup for Education along with Deb Crowther, Vice President traveled to Nicaragua in December 2014 for the graduation of Juanita. Juanita was the recipient of a scholarship to the La Bastilla Technical School for the past 3 years. She was at the top of her graduating class with offers of an internship in cheese making as well as coffee upon graduation. The opportunity to learn at La Bastilla gave her the skills needed to earn her way in the world, and contribute to the success of her family and community. Juanita made us all proud. Cup will choose a new student to receive a scholarship to the school for the next 3 years.

New Desks for Two Schools in Jinotega, Nicaragua
In 2011, funds were donated to benefit two primary schools in Nicaragua. The Simon Bolivar school in the community of Los Cerrones received 40 new student desks and 2 teacher desks, benefiting 133 boys and girls. The Solidaridad School in the community of Los Alpes also received 40 new student desks and 2 teacher desks, benefiting 115 boys and girls. Both communities are members of the Cooperative Sopexcca, in Jinotega, Nicaragua.

Las Cuchillas Primary School
On July 19th, 2009 construction will begin on a new primary school in Las Cuchillas. This community is a member of the cooperative Soppexcca in Jinotega, Nicaragua. The students currently attend class in the houses of different members of the community, by different individual teachers. However, these conditions are not adequate for the children to receive the appropriate, quality education they need to improve their lives. The members of the community, and Soppexcca believe strongly in education, and that it is extremely important to their success in the future and to bring about change. Read more...

Soppexcca
The communities of the cooperative Soppexcca in Jinotega, Nicaragua were the inspiration for Cup for Education. In the small community of Los Alpes, the half-finished Solidarity School in 2003 inspired founder Karen Gordon to go back home and form this organization. From rallying fellow travelers to raise money to finish building the structure, to sponsoring an additional teacher to allow more students to attend the local school, Cup has continued to support the cooperative in various ways. Each year we have sponsored the salary of a teacher who travels among the communities teaching arts and agriculture. In addition, we have sent books and other school supplies over the past several years. On one visit we met and bought desks from a local carpenter for one of the schools in the communities. Last year we also included enough funds for 700 backpacks to outfit the students among the cooperative.

Papua New Guinea

Women's Literacy Project 2010
Cup for Education supported the Na Wokabaut (non-profit corporation) women's literacy program in Papua New Guinea. The program has drawn attendance of 30 to 100+ women excited to learn English. Cup for Education provided the funding for 150 small individual chalkboards for the women to practice writing on.

One little anectdote from Aarlie Hull:
Rachel, our women’s literacy teacher, starts out with the basic English greetings, etc. The women practice these easy phrases amongst themselves. When I walk around the village or the plantation I come upon women in groups and some of them are in the literacy class. They will confidently come up to me smiling, put out their hand and say: “Hello Aarlie, nice to see you. How are you?” and I will say, “Very well, thank you. How are you?” To which they respond “Very well, thank you.” One day I was walking in the village and a group of about six 8 – 10 year old children came up to me and one of them put out his hand to shake mine and I said, “Hello, nice to see you, how are you?” and he responded, “Very well, thank you and how are you?” I almost lost it as I said “very well, thank you”, he had greeted me word for word what Rachel teaches the women. Clearly these children are learning from their mothers.

Peru

Second Year - Early Education Center Project in Corral De Piedra (CFF #2013-14A)
With the continued support of Cup For Education in this, the second year of the Early Education Center of Corral de Piedra, the project continues to provide specialized training for students, parents, and teachers in the areas of motor skills development, nutritional educationand tracking of the malnutrition levels in students. The malnutrition survey which began in the first year of the project continues into the second year as more data is collected. In the second year, new students entering the school, along with their parents, will receive the specialized training in the areas of motor skills development and nutritional education and will be included in the malnutrition survey. Resources will be provided to the educators for those students who graduated from the early education center and moved to the next grade in an effort to provide a seamless and sustainable educational experience. Academic wellness and malnutrition data will be collected for each student over the 5 year span as they are followed to higher grade levels.

The Lunch Box Program (a part of the project) continues into the second year and has been a successful educational tool for the children's parents in the area of nutrition. Lunch boxes were given to students during the nutrition workshop in the first year of this project. Because the children were sent to school in the first weeks with lunchesof cookies and candy, it was apparent that the parents needed more information on what to send with their children that was healthy and nutritious. The lunch boxes provide a daily reminder to the students and their families to eat healthy.

Second Year - Early Education Center in Murojaga (CFF #2013-15)
Without the funding the Cafe Femenino Foundation received from Cup For Education, this Early Education Center in Murojaga might not have been funded for this second year of operation.

Early Educational Center in Corral de Piedra
Cup for Education funded a grant for Café Femenino Foundation, partnering with two roasters who participate in the coffee program, Caruso’s Coffee and Ashlawn Farm.

Rural Kindergarten in San Jose Huanamana 2012
Cup for Education is funding the construction of a school in the rural Andes Mountains of Peru. This facility will provide a safe environment for the children of the coffee producers.
The roof and the surroundings of a classroom of 8x6 meters for children 4, 5, and 6 years of age. The parents have committed to providing the manual labor and to using the materials from local sources. The project will directly benefit 30 children and 30 families in the community of San Jose Huanama. See more details and photos...

A Coffee Child's Christmas - La Chocolatada
Cup for Education is again a proud sponsor of the Cafe Femenino Foundation's A Coffee Child's Christmas program (2011). The program presents La Chocolatada for poor children in coffee producing communities in Peru, providing hot chocolate, Panettone bread, and the gift of books. A Coffee Child's Christmas truly makes it a Feliz Navidad for the children and for the parents as they see a smile on their child's face!

The A Coffee Child's Christmas is an effort towards eradicating the extreme poverty that creates marginalization of the people living in the Inter-Andean Valleys of Peru and lifting children's spirits during the holiday season.

Corral de Piedra School Modernization
Funded a project to renovate a school in the rural region of Corral de Piedra, Peru which serves 264 children. The improvements made included providing a computer, printer, films, desks, and shelving. An electrical generator was also purchased for the school.

Murojaga School - Peru
There is a great need for the funds in this school. They have borrowed some desks, but there are no chairs, the walls are unfinished, there is only a temporary roof, no books, no shelves... And the list goes on. Additionally they hope to add a second room to the school. This is a secondary school for kids beyond the 6th grade. This will make a huge difference for this community since if the kids wanted to go to school past the 6th grade, and it was even possible, they had to leave the community, tearing families apart.